Monday, July 31, 2017

Superversive and PulpRev: A View From Outside.

Brian Niemeier reports the impressions that some of his readers have on the Superversive Movement, Pulp Revolution, and Castalia House:

For those who are unfamiliar with the Superversives and the #PulpRev, the former seek to overturn the rampant nihilism in contemporary SFF from above with stories informed by genuine virtue, while the latter identify post-World War II Campbellian sci-fi as the point where the genre went off the rails. The PulpRev revisits the classic pulps for the inspiration to make science fiction and fantasy--which are really the same genre--fun, heroic, and truly romantic again.

A brief rundown of my readers' opinions on both movements:

The Superversives have more high profile authors.

The #PulpRev has a far bigger cultural footprint--due to their greater willingness to interact with the public on social media.

The Superversives lag behind in terms of marketing their ideas.

On the whole, the #PulpRev has the upper hand--though the two movements aren't exactly in direct competition. There's a high degree of overlap.

To any Superversives who feel inclined to take umbrage: don't shoot the messenger! This is just what I heard.

No one's saying that there's only room for one movement, and with how interwoven the two groups are, success for one is a rising tide for both. But with two publishers and a third sympathetic to their goals, Superversive has a real opportunity to make a difference in SFF now, while PulpRev still is spinning up. I hope they will be able to make the most of the opportunity.